This week, the Wayback Machine takes us to Madison Square Garden in 2017, where Phish played the Baker’s Dozen shows. This is the “Powdered Donut” show which is why they do the Fleet Foxes cover. Here is Phish doing “White Winter Hymnal” and “My Soul,” today on Phish Phriday!
White Winter Hymnal & My Soul
This week, the Wayback Machine takes us to New Year’s Eve 2021. Phish postponed their Madison Square Garden show and instead livestreamed a free, COVID-safe, audience-less performance at the “9th Cube” Rock Lititz in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Join Tad as he revisits their performance of “Mercury > Possum.”
Please note that this is the only official LivePhish video released from the show so far. In this clip you can see the vastness of the empty venue.
Mercury > Possum
It’s time to make your list and check it twice! Fill out the form below to vote on your Top 10 albums of 2021 to enter to win a new Rega turntable and a $250 gift card to Plan 9 Music in Richmond and Charlottesville! 5 runner ups will also receive a $25 gift card to Plan 9 and a new LP courtesy of WNRN. Voting is open until Friday December 17th at midnight. Then on New Year’s Eve listen in as we compile the results and share our listeners’ Top 100 albums of 2021!
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Contest Rules
A few other things to keep in mind… We want to know what you think are the best albums of the year, so give us your list – don’t try to predict the outcome or guess what we like the most. We care about what you think, so tell us!
We need you to fill out the required fields in the entry because we are giving away prizes. If we pull your entry as a winner and we cannot determine who the winner is, we will pull another entry. We NEVER sell our database.
The list consists of about 400 discs released in 2021 that we played as part of WNRN programming. The options are not intended to be comprehensive, so there is also an option to “write-in” an entry. Please search for an album before writing it in to ensure each vote gets counted properly, and please make sure it adheres to the rules outlined above.
Still have questions? Send us an email at info@wnrn.org. Good luck — and thanks for helping create the Top 100 of 2021!
In Studio Sessions took many different forms for WNRN in 2021. From Manchester Orchestra performing live from home in Atlanta to Illiterate Light and Devon Gilfillian uniting in our studios to perform “Freedom” while en route to early tour stops, we learned to expect and even embrace the unexpected. When Shakey Graves made a last minute decision to debut two unreleased songs, we were ready (thanks to the quick thinking and flexible folks at In Your Ear!). When Japanese Breakfast made their first in studio appearance since the release of smash album Jubilee, we were ready. When timing and circumstance allowed us to invite members to join us for a memorable session with Leftover Salmon or to welcome back a holiday tradition in our Commonwealth showcase, we were ready. Enjoy ten of our favorite performances in the playlist below and visit our Live Sessions page on NPR Music to watch more!
Japanese Breakfast – “Be Sweet” In her first in studio performance since the release of Jubilee, Michelle Zauner and company delivered an incredible 4-song set for 30 lucky WNRN members.
Matthew E. White – “Judy” WNRN visited Matthew E. White at his Spacebomb studio in Richmond, with a killer backing band White played songs from new album K Bay and went deep with NRN’s Desiré Moses.
Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno – “Will You” Incredibly we were able to welcome back our Commonwealth Holiday Showcase this year and Lexington, VA native Viviain Leva and Riley Calcagno showed us why they are rapidly making a name for themselves on the roots circuit with this sizzling performance.
Shakey Graves – “Evergreen” Shakey Graves debuted a pair of new songs in a session that almost didn’t happen. Tip of the hat to our friends at In Your Ear for capturing this stellar snapshot of a song being born.
Deau Eyes – “Some Do” Deau Eyes first caught our ear with this song and it’s easy to see why we fell in love with this performance captured during our Commonwealth Holiday Showcase in Richmond. Ali Thibodeaux and crew are poised for the big time.
Illiterate Light – “Freedom” Fortuitous meetings like this didn’t used to be rare. When two of our favorites happened to be passing through Charlottesville we were determined to get them together to play this song. Thanks to Kai Crowe-Getty for capturing this on video.
Manchester Orchestra – “Telepath” Home Studio Sessions continued to be a thing in 2021. They were often trying and occasionally train wrecks, but moments of beauty emerged when we turned things over to the bands and there was no greater example than this stunning version of “Telepath”.
Leftover Salmon – “Flying at Night” Our first member session in 18 months and its a seafood feast with legendary jamgrassers Leftover Salmon. Can’t have it any better than that. Thanks to our friends at the Front Porch for filming and to Surfside Sustainable Seafood for making sure the salmon was fresh.
The Steel Wheels – “Little Sadie” 2020 collided with our plans for Dead Air 3, but we rebounded with all streaming version, Dead Air 2.4 that featured 12 bands performing from shuttered venues, studios, and spaces like Alder Creek Farm where the Steel Wheels took on the frequent Dead set piece and classic folk ballad “Little Sadie”.
S.G. Goodman – “Space and Time” Stepping away from her band S.G. Goodman proved she has the power to stun all on her own with this stellar live version of “Space and Time” from her debut album Old Time Feeling.
We asked for your lists so we thought it was only fair we share ours. Check out Top 10 albums of the year lists from our on-air staff below and join us all day on New Year’s Eve as we count down to the #1 album of 2021 as chosen by you our listeners!
On Parquet Courts: Another dose of cold brew and this album keep me awake as daylight savings lures me to bed around 4pm. A nice mix of rock, funk, and tempo; I find myself going back to this album when I’m not sure what I want to listen to. It’s become my ‘default’.
1. The War on Drugs- I Don’t Live Here Anymore
2. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
3. Jon Batiste – We Are
4. Adele -30
5. Billy Strings-Renewal
6. Hiss Golden Messenger- Quietly Blowing It/ Oh Come All Ye Faithful
7. My Morning Jacket – My Morning Jacket
8. Arlo Parks Collapsed in Sunbeams
9. Gov’t Mule- Heavy Load Blues
10. Tedeschi Trucks Band f/ Trey Anastasio – Layla Revisited Live at Lockin’
On Billy Strings: The songwriting of Billy Strings is familiar with tales of love, loss, and life. The arrangement of his music and his talents with a guitar are spectacular. For those moments where only the true prescription is a glass of rye and contemplation, Billy Strings fills the air with your own sense of Renewal.
On Japanese Breakfast: While memoir Crying in H Mart chronicles her relationship with her mother from adolescence through early adulthood, while caring for her mother as she died of cancer, Jubliee sees Zauner reclaiming a sense of peace and exaltation. On “Paprika,” the album’s opening track (and my personal favorite), Zauner explores the duality of creating art in the public eye across an explosion of horns and strings. The album’s lead single, “Be Sweet,” is a perfect dose of pop goodness that harkens back to the ’80s in all its synth goodness.”
On Highway Butterfly: I don’t usually include tribute releases in my top 10 but I could not let that happen with this one. Besides the wonderful versions of Casal’s songs on the three disk set it served to educate me on an artist that I had previously overlooked. Going back to the originals was a side benefit I had not expected. Add in the support of a good cause in the Neal Casal Foundation and you have even more to love!
On Hiss Golden Messenger: As much as I wanted to list both of HGM’s releases on my top 10, I felt I needed to choose. So, I chose the “holiday” album, not because it’s better, but because I always rejoice when a new holiday album gets released that’s actually GOOD and not just a re-working of the same tunes that get rehashed this time of year. This does have some reworked classics, but Hiss Golden Messenger makes them their own and then contributes a few originals that are a welcome addition to the holiday cannon.
On Matthew E. White : So good to hear new music from Richmond’s Matthew E. White this year. While the album struck me from first listen, I truly fell in love after our amazing session with MEW at his Spacebomb studios in Richmond. Hearing him talk about the making of the album and watching the songs come together live has only deepened my respect for one of Central VA’s most vibrant musicians.
Thanks again to this year’s Commonwealth Holiday Showcase performers Good Dog Nigel, Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, Deau Eyes and Saw Black. If you weren’t lucky enough to win passes you can watch our full December 15th performance from In Your Ear studios in Richmond below and stream our December 8th performances from our Charlottesville studio.
In this In Studio Session for WNRN Sierra Ferrell join host Bob Mosolgo in studio to perform songs from her debut album Long Time Coming. She also talks about growing up in West Virginia, some of her musical influences, and writing the songs for the record, including “In Dreams” and “Jeremiah” which exploded in popularity after Nashville video series Gems on VHS featured her performing the songs live shortly after moving to Nashville following stops in Seattle and New Orleans. Stream the full session above thanks to the support of Blue Mountain Brewery.
Robin and Linda Williams stop by the WNRN studio ahead of their holiday concert at the Blackburn Inn in Staunton, VA on Friday December 10th to perform live and chat with host Bob Mosolgo. The pair preview the show, play songs from latest album A Better Day A-Coming, and talk about what drew them to Virginia from Nashville early in their career and why they still call the Commonwealth home today.
